This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2001-67079 filed Oct. 30, 2002 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hood latch assembly for a front end module of a vehicle, and more particularly, to a hood latch assembly for a front end module of a vehicle in which the structure of a cable adopted in a front end module of a vehicle is improved.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, a hood is installed in a vehicle to open and shut an engine room where an engine and other parts are installed. The hood is locked and unlocked to and from a body of the vehicle by a hood latch assembly. The locking and unlocking of the hood by the hood latch assembly are performed in multiple steps considering safety in handling.
An example of the hood latch assembly is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-160670. The hood latch assembly includes a locking mechanism enabling a front end portion of a hood to be unlocked from a frame of a body of a vehicle and an unlocking cable extending from the locking mechanism and transmitting a manipulation force input from the outside to the locking mechanism to unlock the locking mechanism.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-104430 discloses a hood lock structure for a vehicle having a two-step locking structure. Japanese Utility Model application Publication No. 1993-064372 discloses a hood latch assembly having a hood lock apparatus installed at a frame of a vehicle and coupled to a striker installed at an end portion of a hood and a release cable connecting the hood lock apparatus and a manipulation lever.
The conventional hood latch assembly or hood lock apparatus has a structure in which the hood lock apparatus and the release lever installed inside the vehicle are connected by a cable. As a vehicle has a variety of functions, and various additional apparatuses are installed in the engine room or the size of a vehicle increases, the length of the cable increases so that it is difficult to install and fix the cable connecting the release lever and the hood lock apparatus.
Recently, in manufacturing of vehicles, a front end module has been suggested so that apparatuses which are independently installed in the front side portion of a vehicle, for example, a cooling apparatus such as a radiator, a condenser, and a fan, a head lamp, a bumper, and a horn, can be made into a package and installed on a body frame by a one time work.
However, since in the front end module a hood latch 11 coupled to a striker 12 installed at an end portion of a hood 10 and a release cable 14 connecting a release lever 13 installed inside the vehicle form a single structure, as shown in FIG. 1, independency of the front end module 16 fixed to a body frame 15 in an independent package and an efficiency in an installation work are lowered. That is, the hood latch 11 is installed at the front end module 16 and the release lever 13 to manipulate the hood latch 11 is installed inside the vehicle, although the front end module 16 is independently packaged, its independency is lowered by the cable 14.
To solve the above and other problems, the present invention provides a hood latch assembly for the front end module of a vehicle which can improve independency of the front end module and facilitate installation thereof.
Also, the present invention provides a hood latch assembly for the front end module of a vehicle in which the release cable connecting the release lever and the hood latch can be separated and connected so that the release cable is easily installed and fixed.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a hood latch assembly for a front end module of a vehicle comprising a hood latch, which locks a striker of a hood, installed at an upper horizontal portion of a front panel of the front end module formed of upper and lower horizontal portions and a vertical portion connecting the left and right sides of the upper and lower horizontal portions, a first release cable, having one end connected to a release lever disposed at a driver""s seat, installed at the upper horizontal portion of the front panel to be capable of sliding, a second release cable having one end connected to the hood latch, and a connection unit, installed at the other end portions of the first and second release cables, which connects or separates the first and second release cables.
Preferably, the connection unit comprises a fixture formed at the end portion of the first release cable and having a diameter greater than a diameter of the first release cable, and a hub formed at the end portion of the second release cable, which the fixture is coupled to and separated from.
Preferably, the hub comprises a body having a hollow portion into which the fixture is inserted, a cable insertion portion formed in the outer circumferential surface of the body to be capable of moving, into which the first release cable where the fixture is installed is inserted, and a fixture locking groove formed at an end portion of the cable insertion portion to accommodate the fixture.
Preferably, the connection unit comprises a first connection member installed at an end portion of the first release cable, and a second connection member rotatably installed at the end portion of the second release cable and screwed to the first connection member.
Preferably, the hood latch assembly further comprises a cable support unit which supports the first and second release cables with respect to the front panel of the front end module to be capable of moving in forward and backward directions.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a hood latch assembly for a front end module of a vehicle comprising a hood latch installed at the front end module installed at a body of the vehicle, a release lever installed inside the vehicle, and a release cable connecting the release lever and the hood latch and capable of being separated into a plurality of cables and coupled together by at least one connection unit.